The Sisters of Sugarcreek has inspired a Hope & Kindness Campaign http://readthearc.com/stitching-hope-through-random-acts-of-kindness/which got me to thinking about lots of days when just a smile, a listening ear, or a random act of kindness from a friend or a stranger has gotten me out of a funk. But there’s one incident from years ago that I (literally) carry around with me to this day!

It was a day when my mother was in the hospital with pneumonia and I was anxious to get there and visit her. Yet my son was in dire pain from having had his shoulder operated on so as torn as I felt, I couldn’t leave his side. Also, my thoughts were in Texas where my nephew was having surgery for a brain tumor which they weren’t sure was benign. Obviously I was missing work – again – too, so I was at home when the doorbell rang.

And there she stood when I opened my front door. A woman I recognized from a ladies bible study I was taking part in, but someone I didn’t know-know (if you know what I mean). She held out something to me. I wasn’t sure what it was at first, but it looked adorable. A sunny yellow-colored rectangle with pastel ribbons spewing out of the top of it. Something handmade that I’d never seen the likes of before.

“I just thought I’d drop this by,” she told me. I wasn’t even sure how she knew where I lived.The only thing I could imagine is she’d surely heard my prayer requests at our most recent study session and took them very much to heart.

I have to say just the realization of that — that this person whom I only knew just a little had actually heard me, that she’d absorbed what I’d said, and that she cared — all of that together lifted me and my heart in a way that was amazing!

It’s been at least 10 years or maybe more since Penny stood on my doorstep. Her gift was actually a darling scripture/quote holder she’d crafted herself. A place to store favorite words and verses. To this very day, it’s something that I still carry in my purse with me wherever I go. Along with her handcrafted gift, she also gave me something else. Something I’m sure you already can guess, but I just have to say it. She left me with a feeling — a “brightening,” a “lift,” a sweet sense of knowing that someone was there. That someone cared. I’ll never forget that feeling — or her!